Berneray - Lachlan Munro

Lachlan Munro(e) is quoted in the Napier Reports as being about 60. Bearing that in mind, the 1881 census yields a Lachlan Munro who was born in 1819, making him about 64 at the time that he attends the hearings in Obbe. He is shown as married to Margaret, 6 years his junior and being a farmer of 10 acres at Ruishgarry, Bernera, in 1871. Not until we go back to 1851 do we see Lachlan's parentage; at that time, he is still living with his mother Mary, who is quoted as a farmer of about 8 acres. Lachlan's siblings at the time were Malcolm, Euphemia and Alexander. Going back another decade, we encounter a degree of uncertainty when the 1841 census shows Lachlan Munro as an 18-year old at Pabbay, the island northnorthwest of Berneray.

Following the trail of census returns forward in time, we encounter a Lachlan Munro in South Harris in 1891 as a missionary at Borve, married to Margaret. I am not at all sure that this is the same man as the Lachlan Munro in Berneray. The man at Borve, who died on 19 February 1892 aged 75, was a catechist from the Free Church Highland Committee. His mother's name is given as Mary, which would tally with the man above; his father's name, Archibald, is not given in the census returns.